Hit Man on Netflix vs. the True Story of Gary Johnson | Fact-Check

well this is going to be a somewhat Short episode because there's only so much in Netflix's Hitman that's actually based on the true story of Gary Johnson an investigator for the DA's Office in Houston who spent more than a decade portraying a fake Hitman he did so in order to catch people who were trying to pay to have others killed to its credit the film is upfront about its departure from the facts the prologue informs us what you about to see is a somewhat true story inspired by the life of Gary Johnson however if the real Gary Johnson had lived the SE director Richard linklater's version of his life I can't imagine he'd be too pleased with how he's portrayed especially since the movie turns him into a coldblooded murderer in the end but I'm getting ahead of myself first let's address how much of the movie is actually based on the true story of Gary Johnson in Hitman Gary Johnson is portrayed by top gun Maverick actor Glenn pow who co-wrote the film with director Richard link later in the movie Gary is an introverted college professor who does part-time Tech work for the New Orleans Police Department when an undercover officer who poses as a fake Hitman is suspended for beating up some teenagers on a whim they ask Gary to step in to play the role as if it's not a big deal and they're too lazy to find you know basically anyone else with more experience than Gary who's not even a cop I mean it's not like there's anything at stake except for the very life of the person their suspect wants to pay to have killed or will end up killing thems if Gary doesn't do a convincing job at their meeting there's 's apparently no reason to be overly concerned that he might screw it up or not be able to pull it off and as you might have guessed despite its surprisingly working out in the movie and Gary being a natural it didn't go down that way in real life in reality Gary Johnson had significant experience in law enforcement and working undercover instead of working full-time as a professor the real Gary Johnson was a staff investigator for the Harris County District Attorney's Office in Houston the movie fictionalizes the setting as being in New Orleans Barry did work as a professor but only part-time two nights a week teaching a class on General psychology and another on human sexuality unlike the movie Gary had significant previous experience as a cop after serving in Vietnam Gary had worked as a sheriff's deputy in Louisiana and then in the mid1 1970s he did Undercover work for the Port Arthur Police Department playing an addict looking to make drug BU as an investigator for the District Attorney's Office in Houston Gary helped gather physical evidence and find Witnesses for prosecutors he tracked on stolen cars and he helped with stakeouts he was even shot during an arrest in 1986 so when the police eventually contacted the special crimes division of the DA's office to see if they could help catch a woman who wanted to pay to have her husband killed Gary's boss has nominated him to be the Hitman which makes sense in real life because he had previous experience working undercover he disguised himself as a badass biker and met with the upset wife he convinced her he was the real deal and she handed him a down payment to carry out the hit after a few minutes the cop swooped in to arrest her this marked the beginning of Gary Johnson's work as a fake Hitman unlike the movie he didn't take over for a suspended undercover officer named Jasper who had been previously doing the job and while the film takes place in the present day the real story took place predominantly in the 1990s the movie is fairly accurate in portraying some of the various Buss Gary was involved in as a fake hitman at one meeting in the film there's a woman who comes on to him and tells him that after her husband is gone she'll be in her big house all alone in real life there was a woman who suggested they perform a certain sex act on the hood of her Cadillac in another scene a teenager wants to pay in video games to have his mother killed this seems to have been inspired by a real life meeting Gary had with a teenager who tried to pay an Atari games to have a male classmate killed who he thought was trying to move in on a girl he liked that arrest like others made the newspapers it's true that G was an excellent actor and he would change personas to match what he thought would best convince each client he was an actual Hitman in the Netflix movie Gary is visited by an ex-wife he is still friends with the real Gary Johnson who was somewhat older than Glenn Pal's character had been married and divorced three times and he was indeed still friendly with one of his Ex-Wives similar to the film she was amazed that her quiet ex-husband who liked being alone could turn on another personality and make people think he was a vicious killer all of this Loosely accurate backstory leads up to a meeting Gary has with audre Aron's character Maddie Masters who wants to have her abusive and controlling husband killed instead of accepting her money and having her arrested Gary posing as a hit man named Ron tells her to keep the money and use it to leave her husband and start a new life this is pretty close to what happened in real life at their meeting according to the Texas monthly article that inspired the film Gary met with an unnamed woman who claimed that her boyfriend not her husband was abusing her and she was too scared to leave him prior to their meeting Gary researched her and discovered that she was telling the truth and that she was indeed being abused at the meeting he didn't take her money but rather referred her to Social Services and a therapist so that she could get the necessary help to leave her boyfriend and enter a women's shelter they parted ways and Gary never saw her again Gary says that it was the only time he turned soft and the article ends at that point everything after this point in the movie is fictional spoiler alert this includes their heated romance her killing her husband and Gary in the end killing Jasper the cop who figured out that she did it and want some of her husband's life insurance money of these completely madeup parts of the movie director Richard link later says that he thinks the real Gary would be beused by the movie and how far they took it Beyond his own life with link later calling it a Thrill Ride that's pretty funny while the movie has its funny moments and there's certainly plenty of Chemistry Between the leads I think te use is a generous word for how the real Gary would feel about his portrayal especially in terms of the movie's ending after MD's estranged and jealous husband Ray finds out that she's been seeing Gary who's still posing his Ron he tries to pay to have Maddie killed the police somehow find out that Ry is looking for a Hitman so they connect him with their fake Hitman Gary and at their meeting Ry recognizes Gary as madd's boyfriend and he storms off here we have yet another plot hole in the fictional part of this film because in the earlier meetings there are surveillance cameras on these meetings which that makes perfect sense for legal reasons so if they see on the surveillance camera for this meeting that Gary doesn't want to reveal himself to Ry they would wonder why that is and why Ry does recognize Gary and then storms off which would lead them to believe or find out that Gary was was the one who pulled the gun on Ray at the earlier confrontation outside the club but for the convenience of the plot it seems that this time there are surveillance cameras on the meeting Gary warns Maddie that her angry husband Ray might be coming to kill her so she takes matters into her own hands and she kills her husband not in self-defense but she shoots him while he sleeps or is passed out it's worth noting here that in the movie Maddie never states that she was being physically abused by her husband clearly she's being emotionally abused and very controlled but there's no mention of physical abuse this is different from the article that inspired the film in which the unnamed woman was being regularly battered by her boyfriend and was too terrified to leave him because of her fear of what he might do if he found her now except for the fictional undercover cop Jasper whose job as a fake Hitman Gary had taken over the rest of the department doesn't know about Gary and Maddie's relationship the investigators begin to suspect Maddie killed her husband and they want Gary to wear a wire to help expose her he goes to her house and he holds up text Types on his phone which tells her what to say to convince the police that she didn't do it over looking the fact that forensics would almost certainly be able to link Maddie to her husband's murder Gary and Maddie pull it off and were to believe Maddie is in the clear that is until Jasper shows up who's been trailing them and knows the truth he tells them he'll expose them unless they give him some of the money from mty's husband's life insurance policy He suggests they discuss it over beers because that's how all tense conversations go best and Maddie goes to get them and in the process she spikes Jasper's drink he soon falls to the floor seemly knocked out from whatever Dr drug she somehow figured out might do the trick then to prove his commitment and to prevent Maddie from potentially going to prison for drugging a cop and possibly the premeditated murder of her husband Gary disturbingly ties a bag over Jasper's head and Jasper begins to suffocate to death Gary then says he can easily frame it as a suicide since Jasper's wife left him years ago and there's no one to question the story they make up about him that Jasper is racist misogynistic and abusive Gary and Maddie then playfully kiss as Jasper expires on the floor and it's at this point you realize that these two are basically the Twisted villains of the story even if the movie doesn't want you to see them that way cut to a scene several years later and Maddie and Gary are at their daughter's Elementary School where Maddie offers to volunteer with an upcoming event you see the filmmakers want you to know these are really good people and it's not at all disturbing that they killed two people and got away with murder twice no that won't at all mess up their daughter when the truth comes out out in a final supposedly brilliant piece of advice for his class Glen Pal's character tells them seize the identity you want for yourself and whoever you want to be after this class be them with passion and abandon I don't know is that really the best advice go out there and be someone you're not it worked out great for me I ended up with someone super hot and got away with murder you see the real Gary Johnson never strayed from who he was he took on different personas in being a fake hit man and he was highly convincing actor the Lawrence Olivier of his field the article notes but in the end he was still that interesting but average looking odd guy living alone with two cats ID and ego and he was seemingly fine with that he didn't need to adopt a new identity and be someone he wasn't seems to be a far better moral to the story than the one the movie is trying to propose since most people won't know which scenes in Netflix's Hitman are part of the true story just before the credits role the movie shows pictures of Gary and informs us that Gary committed zero murders and that they made that part up I was glad to see the filmmakers do this if not just to prevent Gary from rolling over in his grave as to how far they stretch his true story The Chemistry Between Glenn pal and odria Aron's characters is what primarily makes Netflix's Hitman worth a watch even if the ending is more disturbing than a feel-good conclusion to the story if you enjoyed this video and want to learn more about the historical accuracy of movie and TV shows based on true stories hit that like button and subscribe to 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